Bite the Digital Dust: How to Plan Your Online Afterlife
Don’t leave your loved ones haunted by your browser history.
I know, I know what you’re thinking.
Millennial Mom, this is a very serious and morbid topic!
Well.. is it though?
Ok yes it is. But how many times have you seen Family Guy or The Simpsons or any modern cartoon show depict death as funny and making fun of it?
As with anything remotely morbid or super serious, we, the public, always make fun or make light of it. Tell me it’s not true.
What Happens To Our Online Selves When We “Bite the Dust?”
Have you ever thought about what happens to all your social media profiles, photos in the cloud, and random online accounts after you, well, stop needing them?
It’s a little weird to think about, but our digital lives are becoming a huge part of who we are. They might even outlive us!
Digital Immortality (Sort Of)
I’m not saying your Instagram feed is going to achieve sentience and start haunting people. Ah, maybe for some 😂
But think about it: years after you’re gone, anyone could stumble upon your old tweets, vacation photos from 2008, maybe even that risqué blog you kept in high school.
It’s a strange sort of immortality, a digital footprint that paints a very specific picture of who you were.
Now, this poses some interesting questions.
Who owns all that data after you die?
Should family members be able to delete embarrassing posts or close accounts?
Or is it a piece of your history that should be preserved, even if it’s cringe-worthy?
The Mess We Leave Behind
Truthfully, most of us probably don’t put much thought into our digital legacy. We have unused subscriptions, random newsletters we never open, accounts gathering virtual dust.
When it’s our time to go, it becomes someone else’s problem to sort through the mess — and that feels kinda unfair.
Unless you truly just don’t care.
Taking Control of Your Digital Afterlife
It’s not exactly a fun afternoon activity, but maybe we should get ahead of this. Here are a few (slightly morbid) tech to-dos:
- Make a Digital Will: Designate someone to manage your accounts, and decide what should be deleted or preserved. Don’t forget to update and give them your passwords.
- Clean Up Your Act: Maybe go through those old Facebook albums… just in case. 😉 and clean up any of your other socials. Maybe something you posted in spur of the moment but don’t want to be remembered for that?
- Talk It Out: It’s always the hardest one. Once you are 7 minutes into the conversation, it’ll be a breeze from there. Have an open conversation with your loved ones about your wishes regarding your online presence.
The Takeaway
Technology is weird and expanding quicker than a marshmallow in the microwave. The way it’s rewiring how we think about life — and even death — can be a bit unsettling.
There’s no right or wrong way to handle your digital afterlife. Maybe you want to leave it alone and forget about it, that’s totally fine.
But a little awareness and planning could save your loved ones a headache down the line and maybe even help you curate the online version of yourself that you want the world to remember. Yes, including that one TikTok dance that took you 3 hours to learn 😬
What do you guys think? Is it important to manage your digital legacy? Or is it better to just let the internet forget you exist?
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed reading this story, give some love by clapping or commenting!
Til next time!
